me do this? A qualitative study into staff perceptions of their - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Tutoring Matters Webinar Series

Tutoring Matters Webinar Series

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“How can I be an effective personal tutor and what is out there to help me do this?” A qualitative study into staff perceptions of their personal tutor role and the influence of key resources

Tutoring Matters Webinar Series

Webinar presenters

Alison Raby Ben W Walker Dave Lochtie Host

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Today’s webinar

The webinar aims to help you:

• assess the value of tailored personal tutoring resources (both student-facing and for staff

development in the role) produced as part of a national research project;

• understand the background, rationale, key issues, and methodology behind our Lincoln-

based research on personal tutoring;

• identify and discuss the findings and evaluation of this research;
• consider the implications of this research on personal tutoring both in terms of

tutoring/advising practice and areas for potential future work. It will include ‘thinking points’ for participants along with time for questions at the end.

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Context

Policy & context developments Key research headlines

• more students = greater diversity, increased

competition

• concern about league tables (influenced by

retention),

• differential outcomes for under-represented

groups,

• 2012 increase in fees / ‘value for money’ debate
• HE Research Act (2017) = regulatory framework

(OfS & TEF) (Thomas and Hixenbaugh, 2006: 5-6; Thomas, 2017b; Walker, 2018)

• importance of the ‘human side of education’ and a

sense of ‘belonging’ to student retention and success

• the academic sphere is the most important site for

nurturing this (Thomas 2012; 2017)

• engagement is a critical factor in differential outcomes
• not all students have the social or cultural capital

needed to engage readily or ask for support (Mountford-Zimdars et al, 2015)

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Critical Thinking Activity 1

In terms of personal tutoring… How have these sector developments manifested themselves at your institution?

Discussion

• A change and re-evaluation of the

relationship between HEIs and students

• A personalised learning experience

Universities emphasising it Students expecting (demanding?) it

• Universities reviewing tutorial

arrangements

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Critical Thinking Activity 2

What are the practical dilemmas and challenges (in terms of personal tutoring) resulting from this?

Discussion

• Pressurised situation caused by metrics-

based situation

• Chronic under-resourcing…

➢ purpose, models & structures of PTing not well articulated (Lochtie et al, 2018: 6) ➢ in terms of staffing ➢ in terms of support & development for tutors “training opportunities for tutors can be superficial, lacking in sufficient depth and lacking in purpose” (Lochtie et al, 2018: 6)

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The contradiction?

Increasing importance of the personal tutor role and yet….

What creates the need for a personalised learning experience makes it impossible to deliver with any effectiveness? It remains an under- developed and under- researched area

“The field of personal tutoring in higher education is something of an academic research desert” (Thomas in Lochtie at al, 2018: x)

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The literature

Of the literature which does exist in the field….

• views of tutors have been gathered through

institutional research (Owen, 2002; Ridley, 2006;

Stephen, 2008; McFarlane, 2016)

• These elicit

➢ issues with perceived confidence and competence

(and factors affecting this)

➢ the challenges in the delivery of the role ➢ gaps in training and ongoing support

• Few research studies into personal tutoring, fewer

still which demonstrate impact on student outcomes (Webb et al, 2017) and, I would argue, staff

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This study

Operating within personal tutoring at the University of Lincoln which can be thought of as:

➢ The curriculum model (Earwaker, 1992;

Lochtie et al, 2018: 22)

➢ The integrated model (McIntosh, 2018)

• f personal tutoring with a ‘senior tutor’

role

Is about practical resources & support

Previous studies (Owen, 2002; Ridley, 2006; Stephen, 2008; McFarlane, 2016) established

➢ The value of tutoring ➢ But associated concerns

This study responds by

➢ Providing an intervention to address such

concerns

➢ Assessing the efficacy/impact of this

intervention

Responds to gaps identified in the literature

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Critical Thinking Activity 3

What does resourcing / support / development of personal tutoring look like at your institution?

Discussion

• May depend which of the 3 aspects above

is being talked about

• Often department specific?
• Informational v Developmental (more of

which later)

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The intervention

• Tailored development materials for tutoring

(created as part of the Intervention for Success Project)

• student-facing (for use in individual and group

tutorials)

• staff-facing (to enhance professional

development in the role

• universally available (creative commons

licensed)

• Professional Development Programme for

Personal Tutors – Tutoring the Tutors (not assessed as part of the study)

http://lncn.eu/ptmaster

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Research questions

How effective do personal tutors perceive their support

• f level one students to be

when working with students at risk of underachievement and/or withdrawal? Prior to the provision of tailored personal tutor resources for level one students and staff, what resources and support do personal tutors draw on to address challenges in supporting level one students at risk of underachievement and/or withdrawal? After engagement with tailored personal tutor resources for students and staff, what are personal tutors’ perceptions of the support and resources available to address the challenges in supporting level

• ne students at risk of underachievement

and/or withdrawal?

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Methodology

• Cyclical
• Insider research
• Semi-structured 1 to 1 interviews
• Pre and post intervention (12 weeks apart)
• Research population

Type

• A perceptions study
• Detailed exploration of the individual and

lived experiences and the meanings that these hold for the participants (Smith and Eatough, 2016: 50)

• Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis

(IPA) (Lyons and Cole, 2007)

• Thematic content analysis (Braun and

Clarke, 2006; Bryman, 2008; Saldana, 2016)

Data analysis

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Commonly held perceptions of personal tutoring

• Attributes and

skills

• Scope and

function Perceived effect / influence / impact

• Levels of effect -

interlinked

• Importance of

tutoring ethos and approach

• Early

identification

• Though referral

to professional services Factors affecting perceived effectiveness/ influence

• Difficulty of

measuring

• Workload /

structural issue

• Causal factors /

underlying issues (students) How effective do personal tutors perceive their support of level one students to be when working with students at risk

• f underachievement and/or withdrawal?

Findings

Factors affecting perceived confidence/ competence

• Pastoral or

academic

• Level of

experience

• Background

/ previous employment Factors affecting understanding & performance

• Lack of clarity &

consistency

• Boundary issues
• Level of

peer/team support

• Gaps in

support/develop ment

• Level of

experience

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Findings

How effective do personal tutors perceive their support of level one students to be when working with students at risk

• f underachievement and/or withdrawal?

you just have a mixed bag

• ut there … I think we

should be more unified, in terms of how we approach personal tutoring. At the moment, I think it is fairly ad-hoc (Interviewee 3)

If you use the right strategies, and engage in collaborative conversation, rather than rescuing or rejecting, then you could have a massive impact (Interviewee 8)

that is very difficult; particularly if you have an upset student; to keep that boundary.…the line we are given is that you don’t deal with those personal issues; which I don’t think is a reflection of what really happens in personal tutoring sessions (Interviewee 2)

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Types of general support are aware of & use; views on the usefulness of

• Importance of peer support,

trusted colleagues and team

• Knowledge of support

mechanisms

• Lack of awareness,

knowledge Types of resources and materials are aware of & use; views on the usefulness of

• Department and team

specific resources

• University wide resources

(for referral only)

• Individual resources

Gaps in support and resources identified

• Need for clear induction on

the role

• Lack of generic university

wide resources for tutors

• More training on the

pastoral side needed

• Looking after yourself

Prior to the provision of tailored personal tutor resources for level

• ne students and staff, what resources and support do personal

tutors draw on to address challenges in supporting level one students at risk of underachievement and/or withdrawal?

Findings

Tutoring Matters Webinar Series

Findings

Prior to the provision of tailored personal tutor resources for level one students and staff, what resources and support do personal tutors draw on to address challenges in supporting level

• ne students at risk of underachievement and/or withdrawal?

[the] tutor website for the uni I know about but, must admit, not used (Interviewee 2) I really don’t know (Interviewee 3) the I don’t know the answer to that happens quite a lot (Interviewee 5) Am not entirely clear what I’m meant to be doing (Interviewee 3) in the face of increasing demand [more] support in mental health issues, for example training on how to deal with depressed students [is needed] (Interviewee 4)

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Ways in which these resources helped

(The resource ‘one to one conversations and coaching’ was used the most by participants)

Confidence

• Structure
• Clarification
• Approaches to tutoring interactions

and language use

• Overcoming barriers to progress
• Enabling independence
• Connecting and supporting

colleagues

• Filling the gap(s)
• Developmental not informational

After engagement with tailored personal tutor resources for students and staff, what are personal tutors’ perceptions of the support and resources available to address the challenges in supporting level one students at risk of underachievement and/or withdrawal?

Findings

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Findings

After engagement with tailored personal tutor resources for students and staff, what are personal tutors’ perceptions of the support and resources available to address the challenges in supporting level one students at risk of underachievement and/or withdrawal?

I really like the theory base behind it of encouraging the student to talk; and you listen to that student. I don’t think those skills necessarily come easily … I thought the materials were really rich on that … that could be a whole seven months of development to actually incorporate them (Interviewee 6)

get the students to talk, and not ask them closed questions; … get them to open up in that non-judgemental

• atmosphere. … What do they need?

I really liked that aspect of the materials … problems sometimes go round and round, and the tutor becomes part

• f the circle. That was really helpful;

and the whole issue of letting go – when do we let go; referrals

This certainly helped fill some [gaps] never any before for staff [personal tutoring development]

• nly student based (Interviewee

3). These were the only ones I was aware of for staff support. We had no kind of induction; we were just given students, and that was it, really (Interviewee 2) [We] get a PT handbook as part

• f the school - more about

process than resources (Interviewee 5) Not much support before; this is something that can teach staff (Interviewee 2)

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Critical Thinking Activity 4

To what extent do these findings resonate with your experience? What are the implications?

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Discussion / Implications / Recommendations

Implications

Individual practitioner ➢ greater use of non-directive and coaching approaches Institutions ➢ provision of developmental not just informational, transactional resources and support Sector ➢ highlights the need for sector wide transferable principles of effective tutoring akin to those principles which exist for teaching, for example the UKPSF standards ➢ UKAT’s forthcoming Professional Competency Framework for Advising and Tutoring

New insights

Tailored developmental resources positively influenced personal tutoring practice ➢ developmental (rather than informational) ➢ providing clarity ➢ address gaps in resources, support and development identified in the existing literature

Impact?

➢ Evidence of impact in the areas identified by previous research ➢ ‘any measurement of impact needs to be a measurement of change, and a comparative element over time is needed.’ (Lochtie et al, 2018: 176). ➢ determining impact from experiences and perceptions subjective in nature is complex (Lochtie et al, 2018: 181)

Limitations

• Small sample size & limited research period
• Intervention – not the only changed variable
• Context based ‘swampy lowlands’ (Schon,

1983)

Areas for future work Development of the study could happen in a number of ways including:

• Involvement of students' perspectives & outcomes (Alison)
• Use of quantitative data
• Longitudinal approach

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Braun, V. and Clarke, V. (2006) Using thematic analysis in psychology. Qualitative Research in Psychology 3(2): 77–101. Bryman, A. (2008) Social Research Methods. Oxford: Oxford University Press Earwaker, J. (1992) Helping and Supporting Students. Buckingham: Society for Research into Higher Education and Open University Press. Eatough, V. and Smith, J.A. (2017) Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis. In: Willig, C. and Rogers, W.S (eds.) The SAGE Handbook of Qualitative Research in Psychology. London: Sage. Lochtie, D., McIntosh, E., Stork, A. and Walker, B.W. (2018) Effective Personal Tutoring in Higher Education. Northwich: Critical Publishing. Lyons E and Coyle A (eds) (2007) Analysing Qualitative Data in Psychology. London: Sage. McFarlane, K.J. (2016) Tutoring the Tutors: Supporting Effective Personal Tutoring. Active Learning in Higher Education, 17(1), 77-89. McIntosh , E. ( 2018 ) The 4 Step Tutorial Pathway – A Model of Early Intervention & Transitional Support (EI) to Facilitate Resilience and Partnership Working in Personal Tutoring. Presentation at UK Advising and Tutoring (UKAT) Conference , Derby, 27 March 2018. Mountford-Zimdars. A. et al (2015) Causes of Differences in Student Outcomes. HEFCE. Owen, M (2002). ‘Sometimes You Feel You're in Niche Time’: The Personal Tutor System, A Case Study. Active Learning in Higher Education, 3(1), 7-23. Ridley, P. (2006) ‘Who’s Looking After Me?’ – Supporting New Personal Tutors. In: L. Thomas and P. Hixenbaugh (eds.) Personal Tutoring in Higher

• Education. Stoke on Trent: Trentham Books, 127-136.

Saldana, J. (2016) The Coding Manual for Qualitative Researchers. London: Sage. Schön DA (1983) The Reflective Practitioner: How Professionals Think in Action. New York: Basic Books. Stephen, Dawn E., O'Connell P. and Hall M. (2008) 'Going the Extra Mile', 'Fire-fighting', or Laissez-Faire? Re-evaluating Personal Tutoring Relationships within Mass Higher Education. Teaching in Higher Education 13(4), 449-61. Thomas, L. and Hixenbaugh, P. (eds.) (2006) Personal Tutoring in Higher Education. Stoke on Trent: Trentham Books. Thomas, L. (2012) What Works? Student Retention and Success. Building Student Engagement and Belonging in Higher Education at a Time of Change. HEA. Available from https://www.heacademy.ac.uk/system/files/what_works_summary_report_0.pdf Thomas, L. (2017a) What Works 2? Student Retention and Success. Supporting Student Success: Strategies for Institutional Change. HEA. Available from https://www.heacademy.ac.uk/system/files/hub/download/what_works_2_-_full_report.pdf Thomas, L. (2017b) Using Tutoring to Advance Success To Improve Student Success. Keynote Presentation Slides to UKAT conference, 5 April 2017.

Tutoring Matters Webinar Series

Tutoring Matters Webinar Series